{"id":5888,"date":"2008-08-13T08:04:24","date_gmt":"2008-08-13T15:04:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5888"},"modified":"2024-03-30T13:25:30","modified_gmt":"2024-03-30T20:25:30","slug":"detour-1945","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5888","title":{"rendered":"Detour (1945)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;That&#8217;s life: whichever way you turn, Fate sticks out a foot to trip you.&#8221;<\/strong> <\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Poster-201x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"201\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-56725\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Poster-201x300.png 201w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Poster-685x1024.png 685w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Poster-86x128.png 86w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Poster-181x270.png 181w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Poster.png 741w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 201px) 100vw, 201px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhile on his way to Los Angeles to meet his girlfriend (Claudia Drake), a pianist (Tom Neal) hitches a ride with a gambler (Edmund MacDonald) who drops dead during the middle of the night. Deciding that no one will believe him if he tells the truth, Al (Neal) adopts MacDonald&#8217;s persona &#8212; but a sullen hitchhiker (Ann Savage) calls Al&#8217;s bluff, and soon has him embroiled in more trouble than he could ever have imagined.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Edgar G. Ulmer Films<\/li>\n<li>Femmes Fatales<\/li>\n<li>Flashback Films<\/li>\n<li>Living Nightmare<\/li>\n<li>Mistaken or Hidden Identities<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;No One Believes Me!&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Road Trip<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nAs Peary notes, this &#8220;near-legendary work&#8221; by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.filmreference.com\/Directors-St-Ve\/Ulmer-Edgar.html\">Edgar G. Ulmer<\/a> is &#8220;regarded by many critics as the greatest &#8216;B&#8217; film ever made&#8221;, and is &#8220;truly an unusual film&#8221;. Featuring &#8220;one of the screen&#8217;s all-time great losers&#8221; (Neal) and <em>noir<\/em>&#8216;s most unabashedly shrewish <em>femme fatale<\/em> (Savage), viewers can&#8217;t help but stay hooked even while wishing they could divert their eyes from the disaster unfolding in front of them. As a flashback film told exclusively from the perspective of an anti-hero (&#8220;a sourpuss, doom-sayer weakling&#8221;), the entire story smacks of self-indulgent pitying: one never knows whether Al&#8217;s version of events is truth or fantasy, and the film&#8217;s notoriously ultra low-budget (&#8220;it uses only six minimally furnished indoor sets&#8221;) simply adds to its overall air of nightmarish surreality. <\/p>\n<p>Critics have long debated the role of Fate in &#8220;pessimistic Neal&#8217;s&#8221; downward spiral, with Peary pointing out that &#8220;in truth he does nothing to ward it off&#8221;, instead using &#8220;Fate as an alibi&#8230; when [it was] his own foolishness [which] caused him to dump MacDonald and steal his possessions&#8230; [and] to pick up Savage when he should have been keeping a low profile.&#8221; Regardless of Al&#8217;s personal culpability, however, few would wish a vulturous harridan like Savage on him or any man; as Peary notes, &#8220;she looks as if she wants to rip you apart with her teeth and devour you piece by piece&#8221;, but &#8220;even more terrifying than her face is her voice, which is loud, scratchy, vulgar, [and] intolerable&#8221; &#8212; a <em>femme fatale<\/em>, indeed! <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tom Neal as Al<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Neal.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Neal-1024x636.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"398\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-56730\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Neal-1024x636.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Neal-300x186.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Neal-128x80.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Neal-768x477.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Neal-1536x954.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Neal-435x270.png 435w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Neal.png 1653w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Ann Savage as Vera &#8212; as Peary notes, her no-holds-barred performance here is ultimately &#8220;what makes the film special&#8221;<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Savage2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Savage2-1024x643.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"402\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-56728\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Savage2-1024x643.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Savage2-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Savage2-128x80.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Savage2-768x482.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Savage2-1536x965.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Savage2-430x270.png 430w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Savage2.png 1619w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Effective, stylish use of an extremely low budget<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Cinematography-1024x632.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"395\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-56729\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Cinematography-1024x632.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Cinematography-300x185.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Cinematography-128x79.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Cinematography-768x474.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Cinematography-1536x949.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Cinematography-437x270.png 437w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Cinematography.png 1653w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Set.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Set-1024x632.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"395\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-56731\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Set-1024x632.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Set-300x185.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Set-128x79.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Set-768x474.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Set-1536x947.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Set-438x270.png 438w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/Detour-Set.png 1665w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Martin Goldsmith&#8217;s pulpy script:<br \/>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;When this drunk gave me a ten spot, I couldn&#8217;t get very excited. What was it? A piece of paper crawling with germs.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as perhaps the most celebrated B-<em>noir<\/em> of all time. Discussed at length in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?page_id=5986\">Peary&#8217;s <em>Cult Movies<\/em> (1981)<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cult Movie<\/li>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0037638\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/great-movie-detour-1945#:~:text=%22Detour%22%20is%20a%20movie%20so,passing%20grade%20in%20film%20school.&#038;text=And%20yet%20it%20lives%20on,it%20has%20easily%20forgotten%20it.\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/72927\/detour#articles-reviews?articleId=70907\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s140detour.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/film\/reviews\/65349\/detour.html\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s life: whichever way you turn, Fate sticks out a foot to trip you.&#8221; Synopsis: While on his way to Los Angeles to meet his girlfriend (Claudia Drake), a pianist (Tom Neal) hitches a ride with a gambler (Edmund MacDonald) who drops dead during the middle of the night. Deciding that no one will believe him if he tells the truth, Al (Neal) adopts MacDonald&#8217;s persona &#8212; but a sullen hitchhiker (Ann Savage) calls Al&#8217;s bluff, and soon has him&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5888\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5888"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95552,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5888\/revisions\/95552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}